Working to leverage pressure on Taliban: Gen. Dunford

KABUL (Pajhwok): Top US military officer Gen. Joseph Dunford said Saturday the United States and its NATO partners were working to leverage pressure on the Taliban to negotiate a political solution to the Afghanistan crisis.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said military, political and economic pressure would convince the Taliban it was in their interest to negotiate a political solution to the crisis with the government in Kabul.

“Without going into detail here, we do believe the Taliban know that at some point they do have to reconcile,” Gen. Dunford said during a discussion at a security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

But he also that the Taliban “are not losing” in Afghanistan, and much more needs to be done to bring peace to the war-torn country.

“They are not losing right now, I think that is fair to say," Gen. Joseph Dunford. “I think we are a long way," from being able to say that point of reconciliation with the Taliban has been reached.

“We used the term stalemate a year ago and, relatively speaking, it has not changed much."

Dunford termed recent parliamentary elections in Afghanistan as “largely successful” and noted the importance of next year’s presidential election.